What's worse is when you wake up at like 3 am and can't go back to sleep. You know there are precious few hours before you have to wake up and face the work week and you're wasting time being awake. Like last night, I woke up and could not fall back asleep. I lay there, tossing and turning, but my brain seriously would not shut off again. Things I thought about:
I'm like 8 episodes behind on True Blood. I have way too many Jonas Brothers songs on my iPod. I hate our neighbors and can't wait to move. I should brush my hair more. I really want Pizza Bites.
Last week I promised I'd tell you some of our favorite recipes (our Greatest Hits, if you will) and apparently my subconscious was willing me to start with Pizza Bites. I can't really remember how these became one of our favorites, but there was a time where we seriously ate these every week, they're so good. I've been making these since I first started dating Ian, and I don't think he'd ever turn them down.
A few notes about the ingredients. Obviously pizza ingredients aren't the lowest in calories, so I always use low-fat mozzarella and turkey pepperoni. I also use a roll of refrigerated pizza dough, not only because I like the thin crust option, but for me, it's a lot easier to work with. I've made these enough times to know that fresh mozzarella is no bueno. The cheese has too much moisture and makes the dough soggy, and while it still tastes good, it's not the best. Shredded cheese is a little too hard to roll up because it's pretty messy and falls all over the place, so your best bet is going with a block of mozzarella cheese and cutting it into small cubes. And don't skimp on the cheese, it's the best part.
I use turkey pepperoni because I'm not a fan of pork at all, and it's like half the calories. The easiest to work with is the bite size pepperonis meant for salads, it makes stuffing the bites way easier. They were out of these when I went shopping, but chopping up regular sized pepperoni works just fine. Use your favorite pizza/marinara sauce to dunk these little guys in. Ian uses ranch (and an obscene amount, I might add) but if you want to keep it light I'd stick with marinara.
These will not disappoint. Unlike all that JB on my iPod, but I'm working on that, swear.
Tomorrow I'm making my famous Crockpot Chicken, and you really don't want to miss it!
Pizza Bites
(Calories and serving sizes depend on your ingredients, but mine came out to about 380 calories per 5 bites, including dipping sauce.)
Adapted from Our Best Bites
1 roll refrigerated pizza dough, preferably thin crust
4 oz. block of low-fat mozzarella cheese, diced
pizza toppings of your choice
Garlic seasoning and Italian seasoning, to taste
marinara/pizza sauce (about 1/2 cup per person)
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Coat a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Unroll the pizza dough on a cutting board. Pat the dough until it's about 12" x 8". Use a knife or a pizza cutter to cut about 25 squares.
3. Place cheese and desired toppings on each square. When all of your dough squares have cheese and toppings on them, carefully lift up each square and wrap the dough around the toppings. Pinch to make sure each ball is sealed shut and then place them seam side down in the baking dish.
4. Top the pizza bites with Italian seasoning and garlic powder. Place in oven and bake for about 20 minutes, until golden brown on top. Serve with warm marinara sauce.
enjoy!
Amanda
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